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Monday, June 24, 2013

Lally Weymouth interviews Israeli politician Naftali Bennett

Lally Weymouth

Lally Weymouth is a senior associate editor of The Washington Post.
JerusalemOne of Israel’s new political stars is a successful businessman
turned politician — Naftali Bennett, 41, whose party, Habayit Hayehudi
(the Jewish Home), won 12 seats in parliament in the last election,
making him a key cabinet member. Some Israelis describe Bennett as
extreme — he admits he wants to annex parts of the West Bank. Others,
including many young Israelis, subscribe to his views. This past week,
he spoke at length to The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth in his office
in Jerusalem. Excerpts:Several years ago, you started and sold a high-tech company.
Yes, I founded and sold a company, Cyota, for $145 million. I was
the CEO. We founded it in 1999, so I was 27. Then the Second Lebanese
War started and I had to go fight, and that gets you thinking: What does
Hezbollah want with us? I realized they just don’t want us here. I
decided, I’m not going back to the business world, which is really my
passion. I’m going to dedicate myself to the state of Israel. At that
point in time, [current Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu was the head
of the opposition. He was looking for a chief of staff. I joined him for
a couple of years, from 2006 to 2008. You didn’t get along in the end, did you?
We didn’t have a fight, contrary to what people think, but it’s no secret that in the last few years, we’ve not been in touch.Do you think Netanyahu views you as a rival?
Well, I lead a party that competes with the Likud, so we are
political rivals. I highly respect him, but I also have profound
disagreements with him.What do you disagree over?
Netanyahu supports — and he truly does support — building a Palestinian state within Israel.Why do you disagree with him over that?
What we’ve learned over the past 20 years is that each time we
gave up land of ours, within a very short time frame, terrorists
initiated severe attacks from that land and killed thousands of
Israelis.You said that you’re “vehemently against a Palestinian state.”
Don’t you believe that it’s in Israel’s interest to find a solution to
the Palestinian problem?
There’s a disagreement here. It’s legitimate.What about the demographics? Don’t you worry about them?
I’m actually very optimistic. I think that everyone’s going down a
path of a diplomatic process, which is not possible. But there’s an
alternative of real peace between people in the field.
There are
1.5 million Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and 400,000 Israelis in Judea
and Samaria — a.k.a the West Bank. No one’s going anywhere. These people
deserve rights, they deserve to live a good life. What’s happening de
facto is there’s growing coexistence. We’re not on the hills singing
“Kumbaya” together, but we’re getting along. There are roughly 22,000
Palestinians working side by side with what you call settlers in
factories and malls in the West Bank. If you work together, you start
understanding each other.Didn’t you call on Israel to annex Area C [the 60 percentof the West Bank that is under complete Israeli control]?
Yes, I’ll explain everything. . . . They [the Palestinian
leaders] don’t accept the very existence of Israel as a Jewish state. So
instead of fighting about what we can’t agree on, I would do a Marshall
Plan for Judea and Samaria for everyone.What does that mean?
It means massive economic investment in infrastructure.Isn’t that what Secretary of State John Kerry’s talking about?
Well, I want to see it happen. I’m happy to push it also. In
what’s called East Jerusalem and what’s called the West Bank, there are
700,000 Israelis. In the Gaza Strip, there were only 8,000Jews [before
the Israeli withdrawal]. So it’s a whole different ballgame. I know this
is a very non-Western statement, but not all problems are solvable;
some you have to live with. We have to figure out how we live together
with a degree of disagreement. And the advantage that I have vis-a-vis
diplomats is that we actually touch the Palestinians day by day.Do you say “we” because a lot of your followers are settlers?
A bit. I’d say about a third of them — or about a quarter is more
accurate. I’m very optimistic. The only way to guarantee sustainable
coexistence is by granting the Palestinians full self-governance.But how can you grant them full self-governance if you’re annexing Area C? And you are in favor of annexing Area C?
Yes, I am, of course. This has always been my opinion. Maybe
somebody thought that if I were in the government, I’d change my
opinions.How can you have a state if 60 percent of your land is gone?
It’s not a problem. In Judea and Samaria, there are
Palestinian-controlled areas and Israeli-controlled areas. In the
Jewish-controlled areas [Area C], there are 400,000 Israelis and roughly
50,000 Palestinians. In the Palestinian-controlled areas, there are
about 1.5 million Palestinians, and not one Israeli lives there. So what
I suggest is that we annex Area C and offer full Israeli citizenship to
the Arabs living in Area C.But do they want to be Israeli citizens?
I think they’ll jump at the opportunity of getting the benefits of being Israeli — social security and employment.But how does having more Arabs in your population work for your demographics?
Right now, the demography is good in Israel, and it’s in fact
getting better. Generally speaking, the Arab fertility rates have been
going down, and the Jewish fertility rates are going up.But then why are many Israelis worried about the very existence of the state of Israel?
People don’t realize the Palestinian supposed state would be on a
mountain, and narrow Israel would be right below. I’ve got four kids.
I’m not about to place them right underneath this big mountain. In the
longer run, I see some sort of involvement of Jordan.Do you favor population transfer?
I’m vehemently against population transfer. I’m against expelling anyone from his house, ever — whether it be a Jew or an Arab.Are you trying to return to the days when the Hashemite Kingdom ruled the West Bank?
I’m not going to tell the Palestinians how to arrange themselves.
If they want to have their own entity and their own parliament as they
do today, that’s fine. If they want to connect to Jordan, which has a
very big Palestinian population, and vote in the Jordanian government,
that’s fine.Do you think this is a realistic scenario?
It’s the only realistic scenario.Do you think anyone in the international community will agree to this idea?
My problem right now is that the international community is
forcing upon us national suicide, because injecting, yet again, a terror
state into the heart of our country is national suicide. So what am I
to do — say, “You’re pressuring me, so I’ll commit suicide?” There’s no
one who wants peace more than me. I’ve fought in every conflict since
1990. I’m willing to do anything possible to make sure the Jewish state
continues.Does Netanyahu really believe in the two-state solution?
I can tell you that Netanyahu is serious about it. He means it. I
also understand that this government is proceeding down this approach,
and I’m not going to stop it. I’m not going to veto it. I’m not going to
do anything to stop the negotiations because this government wants to
progress in that direction.So you’re going to let the government go ahead with Secretary Kerry?
I am. I’m not going to stop negotiations. I think talking is
fine. I am very skeptical that it will lead to anything. At the end of
the day, at the critical moment, every Palestinian leader balks. I’m
very skeptical that Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] will
be willing to accept Israel as a Jewish state.Why not?
Because fundamentally, the conflict is not about a piece of territory — it’s about Israel’s very right to exist.If President Abbas has one last chance, do you think he will take it?
I don’t think he wants to go down in history as the guy who agreed to have a Jewish state.It seems pretty obvious that Secretary Kerry’s going to push for a solution.
I’m not going to put any barriers to this. They can talk. I’m not going to dismantle the government.What about if it comes down to a vote? Would you withdraw from the coalition?
When I get to the bridge, I’ll cross it.But your followers would not want you to sign, I presume.
I think it’s time for fresh thinking. If the current course has
been leading to failure and death, let’s think of another alternative.
Let’s start building businesses together, living together, reducing the
hate levels.Reportedly, you and Finance Minister Yair Lapid are friendly,
and work together and talk all the time. Does Lapid share your
viewpoint?
No. Lapid supports a Palestinian state in Israel, and I oppose one.Do you see eye to eye on the ultra-Orthodox issue?
Even there we’ve got differences. I’ll tell you what we share: In
the election, the issue was the economy, the issue was domestic.
Everyone in Israel is exhausted; no one really thinks it [the conflict]
is solvable.So domestic issues united you and Lapid?
Yes, on the economy, on domestic issues and on integrating haredim [ultra-Orthodox Jews] into Israeli society. We don’t have a formal agreement. We’re friends.Do you talk every day?
We talk a lot. I’m also in good contact with the prime minister
and our president. I highly respect our president. We talk about the
future of Israel because we disagree on the politics.I bet you do.
Yes, we do. But it still doesn’t change the fact that I highly admire him.So you said, “I will do everything in my power to make sure they [the Palestinians] never get a state.”
I don’t want to commit suicide, that’s my point. Handing over
land over the last 20 years has caused immense devastation to everyone —
to Israelis and Arabs.The Palestinian Authority hasn’t had an election in more than seven years.
That’s right. And by the way, in those elections, Hamas got a majority.How did Fatah end up in charge?
They disregarded the results. . . . They’re corrupt. If we do
found a state tomorrow, it will be a failed and corrupt state. It will
disintegrate into another Lebanon. I want to work on the roots. I’m not
saying that we can’t reach peace. I’m saying that we have to start
living together and working together.Do you share the prime minister’s concern about Iran?
I think what matters are not the words but the centrifuges. We
have to be very cognizant of whether Iran continues to accelerate the
pace of uranium enrichment. Over the past year, they’ve tripled the
pace.Would you favor Israel doing something about Iran’s nuclear program?
I won’t go into that, but Israel will not allow itself to be threatened by a maniacal regime that holds nuclear weapons.How do you see the situation in Syria?
Syria is in a chaotic state, obviously. We are not going to intervene.Do you think President Bashar al-Assad will survive?
It’s anyone’s guess. . . . We’re going through a chaotic period that might continue for 100 years.You’re talking about the Arab world?
Yes, the Arab world. It’s not a matter of weeks. It might take
decades. Israel is a fortress of democracy in the heart of a very
chaotic place. It’s not easy times for us. America’s friendship to
Israel is a vital asset to us.I don’t think Americans will understand why you oppose a Palestinian state.
Should I commit suicide in order to appease everyone? For the
Americans — would they be willing to give up the Rockies, which overlook
Denver? We’ve got this mountain overlooking us. Would I hand it over to
my enemy and pray for the best? We’re not going to do that.

Caroline Glick & Mark Levin: The Israeli Solution -- A One-State Pla

Why Israel Opposes International Forces in the Jordan Valley

U.S. scholars' group votes in favor of academic boycott of Israel

Yet another indication of the absolute corruption of American academia today. "US scholars' group votes in favor of academic boycott of Israel," from the Jerusalem Post, December 16: NEW YORK – The 5,000-member American Studies Association (ASA), which describes itself as “the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to...http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/12/us-scholars-group-votes-in-favor-of-academic-boycott-of-israel.html

Israel Living Prophecy

A senior New Israel Fund officer told a U.S. official in 2010 that the disappearance of the Jewish state would not be a tragedy, according to a document that was leaked by Wikileaks...She commented that she believed that in 100 years Israel would be majority Arab and that the disappearance of a Jewish state would not be the tragedy that Israelis fear since it would become more democratic.

Mideast expert Michael Widlanski: Fatah is a joke

US-Israeli talks focus on Ahmadinejad's possible ouster

How to exploit the deep cracks forming in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration for removing the Iranian president was a top item on the agenda of the high-level talks between Barack Obama's advisers and Israeli officials at Mossad headquarters in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, Wednesday, July 29.

DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report that Ahmadinejad's cabinet is falling apart; of his original lineup of 21 ministers, only nine remain at their posts.

The Identity Of The Land

Why the Palestinians need to recognize the Jewish State

We do NOT support a 2-state solution

A January 2009 poll found that Americans oppose creating a Palestinian state by 45-31 percent. A February 2009 Maagar Mohot Survey Institute poll has also shown that Israelis oppose creating a Palestinian state by 51-32 percent.

Many other polls tell a similar story.

These figures suggest that Americans and Israelis have understood that creating a Palestinian state under current conditions will not bring peace but merely another terror state.

Netanya,Israel

Jerusalem At Night

Why reconstruct Gaza without making demands

- that Shalit be release without convicted terrorists being released by Israel in exchange,

- that the US be put in charge of the southern border to ensure that Hamas isn’t rearmed?

- that their three preconditions be accepted by Hamas, i.e. agree to all former agreements,recognize Israel and renounce terror

- that Hamas amend their Charter

- That Hamas disconnect from Iran

The answer is that they don’t want to.

Children of Hamas

Picture of Hamas children the media does not show you

IDF: Civilian Deaths in Gaza Less than 25% of Total

A maximum of 25% of the Palestinians killed in Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli operation are innocent civilians, the head of the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), Col. Moshe Levi, said Wednesday. According to Palestinian medical officials, Israel has killed some 1,000 Palestinians and more than half of them are civilians. Levi said the CLA had compiled a list with the names of 900 Palestinians killed during the fighting. He said that 150 names were of women, children and elderly, and that the maximum number of civilians killed so far was 250. Levi also dismissed claims that 43 Palestinians were killed in an IDF attack on a Hamas terror cell that was firing mortars at Israeli forces from within an UNRWA school in Jabalya. Levi said 21 Palestinians were killed in the attack, including a number of Hamas operatives. (Jerusalem Post)

Hamas teaching the children of Gaza

An Iranian reformist daily newspaper has criticized Hamas "for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals." This is reported in today's Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam. The Palestinian daily adds that in response the Iranian government has closed the newspaper.

"The Iranian news agency "Irna" reported yesterday, that the Iranian Culture Ministry has closed the reformist daily newspaper "Karjo Zaran", because it published a report that included criticism of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). On December 30 the paper published a statement of a reformist student organization, that has criticized Hamas for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The statement was published whilst the Iranian government expresses a unified stands against Israel, and Tehran is overwhelmed by demonstrations against Israel."

[Al-Ayyam, Jan. 1, 2009] Thanks PMW

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Iran-backed Hamas Rocket, Mortar Attacks and Nuclear Developments

9,400+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2003. [1]3,200+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [2]6,500+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [3]543+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [4]28 deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire ended, Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars that killed an Israeli-Arab construction worker and a mother of four who was seeking shelter in a bus station as a rocket warning siren sounded. [5]1,000+ people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire, 44 Israelis have been injured and 200 have been treated for shock. [6]Thanks Israel Project

It began with this...

The British Foreign Office, November 2nd, 1917Dear Lord Rothschild,I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate theachievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities inPalestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.2

Signed,Arthur James Balfour[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]

Favorite Books

While Europe Slept

About Me

Semi-retired Professor, now also permanent resident of Israel;divides time between both countries-serves on several Boards of Directors for Israel advocacy groups;Chana, resident of Jerusalem, JCPA member

Syria is an Occupier-Are You Listening World?

As of this minute, Syria occupies at least 177 square miles of Lebanese soil. That you are now reading about it for the first time is as much a scandal as the occupation itself.

The news comes by way of a fact-finding survey of the Lebanese-Syrian border just produced by the International Lebanese Committee for UN Security Council Resolution 1559, an American NGO that has consultative status with the UN. In meticulous detail - supplemented by photographs and satellite images - the authors describe precisely where and how Lebanon has been infiltrated.

Though the land grabs are small affairs individually, they collectively add up to an area amounting to about 4% of Lebanese soil - in U.S. terms, the proportional equivalent of Arizona. Of particular note is that the area of Syrian conquest dwarves that of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms which amount to an area of about 12 square miles.

It would be nice to see the Arab world protest this case of illegal occupation, given its passions about the subject.

Information worth Possessing

"Israel gave the Palestinians an autonomy in 42% of the West Bank and Gaza after the Oslo accords in the early 90's. Over 92% of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza were then under the administration of the Palestinian Authority and its Chairman Yasser Arafat.

"Israel is surrounded by 10 hostile Arab countries who do not even recognize its right to exist ( Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria, Lybia, Morocco, Tunisia, Aden) and Iran"